LAHORE: Fast bowler Mohammad Asif has expressed hope that he would be 100 per cent fit before the series against Bangladesh and would be seen in action in the series.

Mohammad Asif did full training under supervision of coach Jeff Lawson and trainer David Dyer at the National Cricket Academy, Lahore.

Talking with Geeo News, Mohammad Asif said that he is bowling these days and he die not face any pain in his right elbow.

Mohammad Asif has been suffering from elbow problem for the last six months. He played his last one-day international last year against South Africa in Multan after which he went through an operation in Asutralia.

LAHORE: The meeting of the PCB selection committee will be held on March 29 in Lahore.

According to the PCB sources, names of the players for the home series against Bangladesh will be finalized in the meeting, which will be presided over by chief selector Salahuddin Sallu.

This is likely that no training camp of the national team will be held for preparation of the series. The players will continue to take part in the national one-day cricket tournament and their selection will be made on the basis of their performance in the national one-day tournament.

Captain Shoaib Malik is not participating in the tournament due to illness of his mother.

Mohammad Yousuf is also absent from the tournament whereas Umar Gul and Mohammad Asif are included in the injury list.

KARACHI: M Yousuf may be the prolific run-getter for Pakistan in both forms of cricket but coach Geoff Lawson has told the Board that he does not want the senior batsman in the one-day squad because of his poor fielding, reports PTI.

In a recent meeting of PCB Governing Body, Lawson faced some hard questions from some of the members but he stuck to his guns about the future utility of Yousuf and Shahid Afridi. "Lawson said Yousuf should not be in the ODI squad because of his poor fielding while Afridi, despite playing some 300 ODIs, still gets out in the same irresponsible manner," a PCB source said about the meeting in Lahore.

"He (Lawson) basically repeated what he has written in his report on the home series against Zimbabwe claiming Yousuf should not be playing one-day cricket," the source added. Yousuf has scored 8873 ODI runs from 256 matches at an average of 43.07 but Lawson was unimpressed, saying his below par fitness level could be acceptable for Tests but would not pass muster for limited overs cricket.

Lawson had also told the members that there was a feeling within the team that Afridi had a habit of leaking information to the media and was not a consistent performer. "Lawson faced some criticism over his remarks about Afridi but he defended himself and was all praise for captain Shoaib Malik and Misbah-ul-Haq," the source said.

Misbah got special praise of the coach for working very hard on his fielding despite his age while Malik was improving as a captain and gaining support and respect of other players. The coach had emphasised that Pakistani cricketers will have to greatly lift their fitness levels if they want to consistently win matches.

KARACHI: M Yousuf may be the prolific run-getter for Pakistan in both forms of cricket but coach Geoff Lawson has told the Board that he does not want the senior batsman in the one-day squad because of his poor fielding, reports PTI.

In a recent meeting of PCB Governing Body, Lawson faced some hard questions from some of the members but he stuck to his guns about the future utility of Yousuf and Shahid Afridi. "Lawson said Yousuf should not be in the ODI squad because of his poor fielding while Afridi, despite playing some 300 ODIs, still gets out in the same irresponsible manner," a PCB source said about the meeting in Lahore.

"He (Lawson) basically repeated what he has written in his report on the home series against Zimbabwe claiming Yousuf should not be playing one-day cricket," the source added. Yousuf has scored 8873 ODI runs from 256 matches at an average of 43.07 but Lawson was unimpressed, saying his below par fitness level could be acceptable for Tests but would not pass muster for limited overs cricket.

Talking to 'The Post', here at the National Cricket Academy on Tuesday, Lawson said that he was surprised to see media reports regarding ouster of Shahid Afridi and Yousuf from the ODI squad and termed these statements totally baseless. "Journalists have been making their reports on different issues while nobody had talked to me regarding the players," he added. Talking about any report submitted to PCB, Geoff said that he was supposed to file reports to PCB on different issues and had been doing the same but said that he could not comment on the reports as they were supposed to confidential and could not be exposed to media or any other person.

Talking about the chances of the fit-again fast bowler M Asif, Lawson said that Asif has resume his bowling with almost 90 percent of his speed and looking good but he showed his reservations about Asif's inclusion in the team against upcoming Zimbabwe series. "It is unlikely that Asif is allowed to play in the series against Bangladesh as he has been out of the international cricket for long time. It is difficult for him but not impossible and he may prove his fitness and play against Bangladesh in the last couple of matches," Geoff maintained.

To a question about the outcome of the Bangladesh series, Lawson replied that the Bangladesh team was low in rank as compared to the Pakistan team but it would be a challenging series and they would not take is easy. Lawson named Kamran Hussain and Nasir Jamshed who could be included against Bangladesh as well. To a question about the team's camp Lawson said that they would hold a short camp from April 4 to tone up the team members.

I don't want to bring religion in this thread, but I have a feeling that the current PAK cricket administrators are agaisnt any bearded player in the team. They think that these bearded players are too religious and bring bad influence in the team. If not, then how come MoYo get dropped after such an outsyanding performance? Good for us though

The Pakistan Cricket Board has deferred a decision on disciplinary action against Shoaib Akhtar, who faces a possible life ban for violating the body's code of conduct.

"We have empowered the disciplinary committee to take a decision on Akhtar and legspinner Danish Kaneria after giving them a proper hearing," PCB chairman Nasim Ashraf told reporters. The hearing will be held within a week.

Shoaib is on a two-year probation and if found guilty of violating the PCB code, could face a life ban. Last month he accused the PCB of double standards over the awarding of central contracts to players and criticised facilities during a first-class match.

In October last year, Akhtar was fined 3.4 million rupees (US$52,000 dollars) and banned for 13 matches for hitting fellow fast bowler Mohammad Asif with a bat, just days before the start of the ICC World Twenty20. He was put on probation for two years following the incident. Akhtar, 32, was also dropped from Pakistan's list of 15 contracted players in January after the he had another disappointing year, plagued by injures and discipline problems.

Earlier this month Pakistan coach Geoff Lawson, in his tour report on the away series against India, advised against the selection of Shoaib for Tests, so that the fast bowler could prolong his international career.

The case against Kaneria centres on a website column in which he expressed his anger after being demoted from a B category contract to a C category deal.

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"And do not curse those who call on other than GOD, lest they blaspheme and curse GOD, out of ignorance. We have adorned the works of every group in their eyes. Ultimately, they return to their Lord, then He informs them of everything they had done." (Qur'an 6:108)

This Geoff Lawson's got some balls. To attack Afridi and Yousuf, Afridi being one of the most popular Pakistani cricketer of all, takes guts. I sort of agree on what he's saying though.

I liked what he said about Afridi, that he always gets out in the same manner in irresponsible ways. If Lawson believes there are other younger players ready to take their spots, then he has every right to ask to selectors to drop the seniors. Good for Lawson...

But hopefully this plan will backfire and the Paki's will lose the series to Bangladesh .

He was doing much better with ball and the bat before Wimar ruined him. Bob was trying to make a "Cricketer" out of him. Not everyone is made out to be a so-called cricketer. Whatever service Pakistan was getting out of the Afridi storm was gone with this "containment". It is during the Bob Wilmer era that Paki cricket lost the valuable Afridi storm years.

Afridi will never be the "Cricketer" that some want him to be. He needs to be inserted and included in the team at strategic points and positions. The team needs him time to time for boosting their own confidence and for delivering necessary intimidation into the opposition bowlers.